Thank goodness that they're okay, but the way in which the collision happened was actually kind of funny. It's like Taka was in mid-air and just bonked Dai...the manner in which it occurred is straight out of a cartoon or something.

The video I linked shows Daisuke clearly in pain. Someone reported that he continued his footwork but didn't land any jump after the collision. I wonder if this would affect his plan to do a 4F in his LP. If he was just shocked and not physically hurt, he may get over it by competition time. Koz must be feeling terrible too.

Daisuke has not been able to land his Lutzes and 4T in practices, which is why he will attempt 4F instead.

agreed. it looks like it'd hurt, but it's such a FREAK ACCIDENT... I've seen skaters run into each other before (Tim G and Mike W in 2005 at nationals, and the ice dancer who broke his nose at nationals 2006 come to mind) but a jump collision?

The video I linked shows Daisuke clearly in pain. Someone reported that he continued his footwork but didn't land any jump after the collision. I wonder if this would affect his plan to do a 4F in his LP. If he was just shocked and not physically hurt, he may get over it by competition time. Koz must be feeling terrible too.

Daisuke has not been able to land his Lutzes and 4T in practices, which is why he will attempt 4F instead.

Thanks for that update. Weird how skaters are better at jumps than others regardless of how the jumps are ranked. The toe is supposed to be easier than the flip but Dai feels more comfortable with the flip.

That collission looked awful (though yes, a bit cartoonish) and I really hope Daisuke is not affected. Kozuka must feel awful, too. Those Japanese guys are so cute though

Daisuke's difficulties with those jumps are because of his knee surgery. He's not used to the spring.

One of the reasons I'm not so harsh on skaters falling is because proper falling prevents injuries. Daisuke injured his knee holding on to a bad landing. He said he was quite injury free before that because he knew how to fall. Popping a jump too is an automatic action by the body to prevent injury.

The most recent incident is Voronov's injury from his quad landing in COC. I'm all for skater's well being and long term health. Pushing too hard can ruin one's body as well as career. E.g. Plushenko's hips are gone and require mulltiple surgeries. The great Yagudin's career was cut short - unfortunate for him and for the fans.

Awww, poor Dai and Taka! They seem to be okay; I hope no one is seriously injured. Kozuka appears very sorry and embarrassed that it happened. Poor guys; it just goes to show that you have to be tough as nails to be a figure skater and be prepared to expect anything to happen. Outsiders always take for granted just how difficult and dangerous this sport can be! I hope they both can skate up to their bests!

It was clearly an accident. However, had it been anyone else aside from Kozuka or Oda, I feel conspiracy theories would be all over the place by now.

On the contrary, I think most skating fans (except for perhaps some very new uber-ones who probably have never set foot near a rink before) are cognizant for the fact that collisions sometimes happen in practice sessions, especially when the skaters in question are very speedy elite skaters. For example, I believe Patrick Chan and Adam Rippon had a serious collision at Skate America earlier this season that resulted in Adam's black eye and shoulder injury, but not a single conspiracy theory or accusation was raised.

On the contrary, I think most skating fans (except for perhaps some very new uber-ones who probably have never set foot near a rink before) are cognizant for the fact that collisions sometimes happen in practice sessions, especially when the skaters in question are very speedy elite skaters. For example, I believe Patrick Chan and Adam Rippon had a serious collision at Skate America earlier this season that resulted in Adam's black eye and shoulder injury, but not a single conspiracy theory or accusation was raised.

On the contrary, I think most skating fans (except for perhaps some very new uber-ones who probably have never set foot near a rink before) are cognizant for the fact that collisions sometimes happen in practice sessions, especially when the skaters in question are very speedy elite skaters. For example, I believe Patrick Chan and Adam Rippon had a serious collision at Skate America earlier this season that resulted in Adam's black eye and shoulder injury, but not a single conspiracy theory or accusation was raised.

The forum on_skating is very interesting for observing social behaviour of young females in N America. They "stan" hot skaters, are very nice to each other but conform to hating Patrick Chan, calling him the worst names and wanting him to fall and cheer when he does. They cursed him for hurting adorable Adam Rippon (who's actually over a year older than Chan) in their collision and again today, amidst all the concern for Dai and Taka, accused Patrick of deliberately getting into a collision with Oda in practice, as if any skater would take such risk before a competition.

Just one forum as an example.

BTW, I believe Rippon got a bruised cheek from the collision but not a shoulder injury. He was sick from a cold through the competition though. Patrick was ridiculed for not getting up as fast but I was concerned he might have hurt his back again. He injured his back very badly in a mountain biking accident and the pain came back for a day just before SC. He didn't want that reported so probably would keep quiet about it if his back was hurt from the collision.

Daisuke's difficulties with those jumps are because of his knee surgery. He's not used to the spring.

One of the reasons I'm not so harsh on skaters falling is because proper falling prevents injuries. Daisuke injured his knee holding on to a bad landing. He said he was quite injury free before that because he knew how to fall. Popping a jump too is an automatic action by the body to prevent injury.

The most recent incident is Voronov's injury from his quad landing in COC. I'm all for skater's well being and long term health. Pushing too hard can ruin one's body as well as career. E.g. Plushenko's hips are gone and require mulltiple surgeries. The great Yagudin's career was cut short - unfortunate for him and for the fans.

Thanks for the info. I heard a commentator once (I think it was Mr. Button) say that a pop was a reflex that the skaters could do nothing about ... but I never really knew what that meant. So does it happen when a skater takes off badly or something?

The forum on_skating is very interesting for observing social behaviour of young females in N America. They "stan" hot skaters, are very nice to each other but conform to hating Patrick Chan, calling him the worst names and wanting him to fall and cheer when he does. They cursed him for hurting adorable Adam Rippon (who's actually over a year older than Chan) in their collision and again today, amidst all the concern for Dai and Taka, accused Patrick of deliberately getting into a collision with Oda in practice, as if any skater would take such risk before a competition.

Just one forum as an example.

As for ontd_skating, I think they are absolutely hilarious, but (to me at least) they are quite tongue-in-cheek with their humour, sort of like the nicer, less annoying /b/ board of figure skating (except, you know, without all the porn and being nicer and obsessed with figure skating). I mean, it's hard to take their comments about Patrick Chan intentionally bowling Oda and Rippon over seriously when they also joke about having Joubert nudes or how Morozov caused the collisions with his voodoo.